We're excited to announce that our beloved webcam is back online!
The webcam has been down for months. We had a minor incident in February— a few freaky phone calls— that led to the camera's disconnection. Then, once we hooked it back up about a month ago, it worked for a day and died.
Our webcam is old. We've had a webcam in the bar since the mid-90's when bartender and technology whiz Josh suggested it. (Here's an article from the LJWorld in 2002 that mentions our webcam.)
We purposely haven't upgraded our webcam in years. In fact, the current camera is probably only the second one we've ever had. The reason? We don't want advanced technology that makes it easy for people to clearly see who's in the bar. Our webcam is about checking out the atmosphere— not stalking people.
When the camera died last month, we thought we'd be forced to upgrade. Dave tried one last thing; he unplugged it from its usual perch and plugged it into a different source behind one of the TV's.
One night when I checked Twitter, I saw a tweet about the webcam asking why it was hidden behind a keg. I checked, and lo and behold! The webcam was working again!
Apparently the hub it was originally plugged into had died, not the camera.
The webcam is now back in its corner, with a great view out over the bar. It's still fuzzy, and it always will be, but it gives a good idea of how much activity is happening in the bar.
Check it out: http://www.thesandbar.com/webcam/